A prolonged drought in the Dry Zone in Sri Lanka brought great hardship to many wild animals. Snakes were particularly hard hit because, unlike elephants, leopards, deer, and the like, they could not travel far to watercourses and villus (reservoirs) that might still contain a bit of moisture. The reptiles moved about at night so that they did not overheat and sought liquid sustenance in the blood of the rats, mice, and frogs they hunted down. The situation was desperate.
The people in these parts, of course, had wells so the local villages were not bereft 
of the precious liquid. Absolutely parched and craving for some liquid, a cobra (naya) one day happened upon a little child splashing about near a basin full of water. Within a small wattle-and-daub hut the child’s mother was busy tending to dinner while the little boy played in the open verandah.
The cobra gingerly approached the water and drank it. As it did so the child, innocent and playful, touched its head and played by throwing water at it with a coconut shell (pol katuwa). The snake, grateful for the life-giving liquid, amiably tolerated these actions. Having had its fill the serpent slithered off to the scrub jungle anon from where it had emerged. After resting under a bush enjoying its fortune, the cobra commenced its hunt for the small mammals and amphibians that formed its sustenance.
Soon, travelling about thus, the naya happened upon a Russell’s viper ( polonga), the jungle’s most unpredictable, moody, and dangerous denizen. The naya had met the polonga a few times before in his wanderings and, although not exactly friends, the two were familiar enough to exchange some patter. “Where, friend, do you drink water? You look sated!” Well aware of the polonga’s volatility and short temper, the naya was not about to divulge the information and risk harm to the child.
“Oh, I found some water in a jungle pool far away. There wasn’t much. I drank it all. In this drought where is there enough water?”, said the cobra hoping to discourage the viper. “Come now,” replied the spotted reptile, “Friend, you have drunk. Pray, tell me for I am exceedingly thirsty”. Despite those pleas the cobra resisted because of the viper’s notoriety. However, the thirsty viper persisted in its entreaties.
Finally, the naya said this: “In such and such a village, near the verandah of the first house, just beyond the bushes, a little child is playing beside a basin of water. The child is friendly and playful and will splash the water and touch your head with his hands and feet as you drink. I fear that you will strike the little child as soon as he touches you, such is your bad reputation. So I will not tell you where the water can be found”.
Eventually, though, seeing the emaciated condition of his acquaintance the cobra relented. “Drink, be patient, do not touch the child!”, warned the cobra. The polonga went forthwith towards the village, found the house, and saw the child playing near the basin. It went carefully towards the water and, as it rose up to drink, the little tyke splashed it with a pol katuwa full of water. Then the child touched the head of the viper. Instinctively, it struck the child. The toxins soon had their effect and the child was dead in less than an hour.
The viper drank its fill and came away. While slithering thus he came upon the cobra who was on the alert after hearing a din and cries from the village. “Friend, what happened? Why is there a hue and cry in the village? Why are those women weeping? You were just there, please tell me the news”. The polonga replied, “My good friend, I thank you for telling me about that water. It has renewed my life. But as I was drinking this fluid the little child splashed water on me and I struck it. The child is dead. Please understand, I could not help it.”
The cobra raced towards the village and saw the child laid out on the ground. 
Seizing a moment where its mother was distracted, the snake sucked the poison from the child whereupon the little boy soon regained his good health. In fury, the naya then pursued the polonga to punish it. After a furious battle the cobra killed the Russell’s viper. From that day on the naya and polonga are mortally opposed and will fight on sight.
Adapted by ACY from “Village Folk Tales of Ceylon”, Vol. 3, by H. Parker (Tisara Prakaasakayo)